Here's another chapter for you fans. Unfortunately, this one also follows episode 2 a lot, so no big changes there. But next chapter will have a big change. So just enjoy this one for now as I set things up.

Chapter 16: The Good, The Bad, and The Sexy

Kiba and Freed stared each other down as Freed waved his sword slowly, the edge glowing with holy light. Kiba didn't move, not even to brush the rain off his face. To do so would be to put himself at a disadvantage. He could never do that.

"Hey Pretty Boy." Freed yelled as he charged at him, their swords clashing against each other. "You know, your face is getting pretty messed up. You look like an ogre. In fact, it's starting to look like it was made to be destroyed by this Holy Sword."

"Shut your fucking hole." Kiba shouted back as he pushed him away. Freed jumped into the air from the force, before annoyingly landing on both feet.

"That's one dirty mouth for such a pretty face. Is this your real bastard Devil self? Bet you want to find a lovely virgin to rape, huh?" Kiba had enough of his taunts.

"Holy Eraser!" He yelled, as his blade turned into black tendrils. They wrapped around Excalibur, but they were destroyed as it glowed with holy light.

"Yeah. That's not gonna work. Maybe you should try something else. Like give up and die!"

"I was just testing it. I had to see if it was the real thing. But now I know, I'll break both you and your sword!" He charged in with a yell, knocking Freed back with blow after blow. But the crazed psycho just started laughing.

"Yeah, baby! Swing, swing, swing, swing, and slash!" Kiba yelled in pain as Excalibur got past his attack and sliced into his shoulder. He collapsed to the ground in pain. "Oh, did I forget to tell you? This sword was made to kill you Devil shits. Capishe?"

"I know. As if I could ever forget." Kiba gritted out, before kicking Freed's legs out from under him.

"Hey! You cheating bastard!"

"Devil." Kiba answered, before nearly taking Freed's head off. But he managed to dodge and get back on his feet. He growled at Kiba until a small green circle formed near his ear. While he was distracted, Kiba launched another strike. But again, Freed dodged it. As crazy as he was, Kiba couldn't deny the guy was skilled at sword-fighting.

"Sorry, gotta go. Someone's calling me, I have no idea how to put it on hold." He pulled another flash-bang out of his jacket. "Smell you later!"

Kiba glared at where he had been, the rain still pouring down. Damn. He lost his chance.

He wasn't able to destroy Excalibur.

(**/*\**)

"Good Morning! Splash!" Issei's alarm clock blurted, causing him to wake from the land of drowsiness. He groaned as he opened his eyes. God his chest felt heavy. He looked down to see why it was so heavy today. And he was shocked.

On his right arm was Rias, while Asia slept on his left arm. And they were completely naked! He did the only thing a person would normally do when waking up like this.

He screamed. Very loudly.

Rias mumbled a bit as she woke up, not even caring that Issei had been louder than a car alarm. She opened her eyes blearily before seeing him and smiling. "Morning Issei." She said to him.

"Yes. God morning Issei." Asia also said as she woke up. Issei didn't know where to look first. The way they were sitting gave him a perfect view of their private parts. But their boobs were almost right in his face. It was amazing. But he still had to ask.

"What…What happened last night?"

"You fell asleep on top of us." Asia replied, looking concerned but slightly happy.

Rias nodded. "So, we decided to each take one of your arms as a pillow." They were all interrupted as Bri opened the door looking ready for a fight. She stopped as she spotted Rias and Asia naked, and got a nose-bleed. She rushed back out, closing the door with a slam as she left.

"Ah!" Asia gasped. "I forgot. I need to make breakfast." She grabbed her nightgown from the floor and slipped it back on, while Rias wrapped Issei's cover around herself. "Thanks for having us, Issei." He could only watch them both leave in surprise, but once they were gone he flopped back on the bed. Rias' influence was making Asia do dirtier things. Part of him couldn't deny that wasn't a good thing, but he still wanted to protect her. Bri would kill him if he hurt her in any way. But to him, protecting her while she was doing dirty things with him was great! But…but… His mind was being torn in half. He wanted to protect Asia from perverts like himself, but he really wanted to get into her skirt. And on top of that, from the look of Asia, Rias and Akeno, all three girls loved him. If he slept with one of them, then the others would get mad. Ah, why couldn't he have been brave enough to say something last night? And why did Bri have to leave him to the wolves?

"Hey buffoon." He heard a deep voice in his head. Ddraig? "Do you ever stop thinking about women?

"Hey shut up." He replied angrily. "I'm at that stage of my life. I can't help it."

"Ben Tennyson can help it. And that's not what I'm here for. I've gone out of my way to warn you."

"Warn me?"

"Yes. I have felt a strong force around you lately. It's bad enough that I've had a hard time sleeping."

"I know what you mean. I have trouble after Rias fools around with me with her body too."

"Will you shut up about girls? If that force was one of your friends I wouldn't give a damn. But I don't really know what it is."

"So it could be an enemy?"

"I'm just saying be careful. It could be anything. And you still need to keep an eye out for the White Dragon.

"I remember you talking about it before, when I gave you my arm."

"Yes. The White Dragon: Vanishing Dragon."

"Vanishing Dragon?" What kind of dragon gets that kind of name?

"My counterpart. We're known as the Two Heavenly Dragons, but we've never gotten along. And so our hosts are always destined to fight one another."

"Hosts? So, there's someone out there with a Sacred Gear like mine? With a Dragon inside? And one day I'll have to fight him?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Dammit. First you barge into my body, now I get your rival?"

"Quit complaining. You got a pretty big boost of power out of it, didn't you?"

"Yeah, yeah." He remembered. He wouldn't been able to save Bri from the weirdo without that boost. But he still had to make things clear. "Listen up, Ddraig. No matter what, I still plan on becoming a High-level Devil and become Harem King! I will have countless servant girls and create my very own Hottie Brigade!"

The room was silent for a moment, before Ddraig started laughing. "First time I've ever had a host like that!"

"So… Does that make me weird?"

"It's achievable at least. Other hosts wanted bigger, harder things than that. The power of a dragon mesmerizes everyone around them. People are drawn to that kind of power, especially the women."

"Cool. But does it work on Bri?" He was just curious.

"Doubt it. From the sounds of it, Bri's seen far stronger things than a dragon."

"So I'll get loads of girls?"

"Sure. My previous hosts have always been swarmed by women." Issei was nearly bursting with happiness. He started hugging his hand.

"You are the most awesome-est Sacred Gear ever."

"Oh sure. Now you think I'm awesome." But there was an amused tone to his voice.

"My goal right now is to conquer the President's boobs, so that they will become mine! I desire… to kiss them." Ddraig was silent once again. For several seconds.

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Reduced to helping a guy suckle some breasts. When did I fall so low? Alright, it's not like I've got much of a choice. But do not forget my warning. Beware the strong force that's in town."

Issei nodded to himself. If anything attacked, he and Bri will be ready.

(**/*\**)

Sona Sitri was walking to school, her Queen by her side and a book in her hand. Tsubaki kept an eye out for any threats to her King, but stopped walking when she heard Sona's book close with a snap. She looked past her to see a strange sight.

Two girls dressed in encompassing white mantles of the church staring at them. The girl with the ginger hair was smiling at them, but the blue-haired one was glaring. And she was the one with the giant cross on her back. Sona recognised the symbol on the wrapping.

"A Holy Sword." She whispered in awe. What was one doing here?

(**/*\**)

Wow!" Asia said in awe as she gazed at the shiny clean floors of the Club house. "It's like it's got a mirror finish."

"Yeah. A mirror finish alright." Issei agreed. Ben turned slightly to see that he was looking at the reflection of Asia's panties. Without missing a beat, he stomped on Issei's foot to get him to stop. He hopped around a bit in pain before slipping over and falling. Ben chuckled a bit as he rubbed his head and got back up.

"Hey Bri?" Asia asked. "What's with that door there?" Ben looked to see what she meant. At the far end of the hall was a double door wrapped in yellow tape. The handles were secured with strong-looking chain. He never really noticed it before.

"I don't know. I never heard any of the others talk about it. Issei? Has anyone mentioned it to you?"

"Yeah." He replied. "I think it's called the Forbidden Room. But they didn't say what was in it."

"Helpful. Let's just assume that if Rias wants it dealt with, she'll ask us." They left the door behind, entering the club room to find that everyone else was already there. Well, almost everyone. Kiba was still late. Ben hoped he wasn't going after his revenge or anything like that.

"Has anyone seen Kiba all day?" He asked. Everyone just looked blank.

"He's been absent all day." Koneko replied. "Apparently he wasn't feeling all that well today."

"Do you think it has something to do with our talk yesterday?" Issei asked Rias. Ben's money was on a yes. It was just too big a coincidence. Rias sighed.

"You remember what we spoke about, right?" She asked.

"You said Kiba was part of a Holy Sword Experiment to mass-produce people that could use a Holy Sword. But was inhumane and a failure, so it was stopped. And Yuuto was the only survivor."

Rias nodded. "There were many other children involved too. Kids that the church believed would be compatible with Excalibur. This was because the Original was shattered during the fight against Mordred, or so people say. What we do know is that Alchemy was used to turn those seven fragments into new swords of their own."

"So, Kiba can use Excalibur?" Issei asked.

"No. All the test subjects were unable to wield the swords. And so the Church decided to dispose of all the subjects."

"What?" Ben growled. Those bastards killed children because it failed? No wonder Kiba wanted revenge so badly. Those kids would've been his friends, working together so closely.

"He was nearly dead when I found him. But his need for vengeance and his determination inspired me so much that I brought him back as a Reincarnated Devil." So that's why he was so interested in that Holy Sword. It brought back bad memories, memories of pain and of horror. Their thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and Souna and her Queen entered. Akeno was leading them in.

"Sorry about interrupting, but we have something we need to discuss with Rias." Souna said as she walked past Akeno. Ben raised an eyebrow at this. It must be pretty important. "If you would be so kind as to accompany me to my house?"

"Sure." Rias replied as she got up. She wasn't smiling. "This sounds like serious business. You almost never go there for a chat.

"It's very serious." Souna replied. She wasn't smiling either.

"Very serious indeed."

(**/*\**)

"So, what do you suppose the urgent business is?" Issei asked as they headed back to his place.

"Dunno." Ben replied truthfully. "But it would be nice to get an idea before it starts trying to rip our heads off."

"I hear that. At least you can regenerate from that. If I got hit I'd be a…" He stopped talking and shivered, like something cold went down his back. Asia did the same. "That feeling…"

"What is it?"

"It what I felt when I went near the church the first time we met Asia. And later on when we encountered…" He gasped in fear. "Mom!" He rushed for his house, Asia and Bri right behind him. He barely got his key in the door and opened it before he ran through it. "Mom!" He yelled again, looking around for any danger.

"…Yes, that's right." Mrs. Hyoudo said to someone before laughing. Confused, the three of them sneaked closer to the living room to take a look. "And this is when he tore his swim trunks in the pool." Ben nearly sighed in relief. She was alright. She was just entertaining some guests. As the three of them entered the living room, he took a closer look at the new people.

They were both girls, if he had to guess from the faces. He couldn't see their bodies because they were wearing large white cloaks with pale-green stripes on the front. One girl had short blue hair with a green stripe down the front. Next to her was a large cross wrapped in white bindings. Next to her was a girl with orange hair. Actually, if he looked at it from another angle, it looked more like a light-brown. What were most noticeable about her were the very large twin ponytails she had. It almost looked as though she was sitting on them. Strangely enough, she looked familiar for some reason. He had to think why.

"Oh Issei. Welcome home." Mrs. Hyoudo said to him. "Why do you look so shocked?"

"Hi. Long-time no see Issei." The ponytail girl said happily. "Don't you recognise me? We used to hang out all the time." From the look on his face, he didn't have a clue who she was. But Ben started getting an inkling.

"She's this girl here." Mrs Hyoudo replied, holding up a photo album. Just as Ben suspected, she was showing the picture of Issei with the 'boy' with the Holy Sword. So that what felt weird to him. The kid was just a tomboyish girl. "You remember your best friend Irina Shido now, don't you Issei?"

"Wait. What?" Issei gasped. Ben started laughing at that. He just found it hilarious that the guy couldn't tell a guy from a girl.

"I know, I know. She was such a tomboy back then, but now she's the opposite. I almost didn't recognise her."

"S-Seriously? I always thought she was a boy." Ben groaned and held his head as Irina and Mrs. Hyoudo gaped at him. Issei, you don't tell a girl you thought they were always a boy when they're this old.

"Issei! That was very rude! Apologise right this instant!"

"Wait. I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright." Irina interrupted. "I was pretty boyish back then."

"Same here." Ben decided to say, sticking to his cover story. "I was just the same until Puberty mugged me. Name's Bri Tennyson. Nice to meet you." Irina smiled as she shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you too. Are you friends with Issei?"

"Yep. And nothing else. There have been way too many rumours about the two of us."

"I'm not surprised. He's changed so much since we last met." She smiled. "You can never tell how people will change when they get older."

"Tell me about. I went from flat as a board to having beach balls in just a few days. I kinda wish I could go back to normal." As they spoke, Ben noticed the other girl was glaring at Issei and Asia. If these girls gave them the chills, then they must be part of the church. And they must be able to sense that Issei and Asia were Devils.

Now what was going on?

(**/*\**)

Well here they were again. Almost everyone was back in the Club House except for Kiba. Akeno and Koneko had looked for him, but apparently he was still unwell. Ben started feeling a bit nervous since there were members of the Church in town. Sure, some Devils deserved the reputation. But his friends were ordinary people. They've done nothing to deserve to be killed by a bunch of fanatics. A painful memory started rising, but he shook it off. He didn't have time for memory lane.

Especially while those same Church members were in this very room.

Apparently, Souna found them first, and they told her they wanted to see Rias. That must've been the important message they were talking about. Well, at least he saw them before they would be ready to attack. Now he could prepare in case of a fight.

"Thank you for your cooperation." The other girl was saying. She introduced herself as Xenovia. Weird name, but he did know Deefus. "I am glad we could meet with the next head of the Gremory Family.

"Enough with the small talk." Rias replied. "What would Servants of God want with a Devil?"

"Though we're still missing one, six of the Excalibur Swords have been kept in three divisions of the Church." Irina answered. "But recently, three of those have been stolen by Fallen Angels." Everyone was shocked. The Church was robbed?

Xenovia grabbed hold of the cross on her back. "The swords we have are Excalibur Destruction, The Holy Sword of Destruction…"

"…And my Holy Sword of Mimicry, Excalibur Mimic." Irina finished, showing off a braided armband. Guess the Church weren't interested in poetic names.

"That still doesn't explain what you want with us." Rias said.

"This fight is between us and the Fallen Angels." Xenovia said. "We can't afford to deal with the Devils of this city."

"I get it. You thought we'd side with the Fallen Angels and do something to the Holy Swords."

"Devils do despise Holy Swords. You have as much reason to hate them as the Fallen Angels do." Ben noticed that Rias' eyes were glowing red. He wasn't completely sure, but he imagined she was getting angry. "If we must, we will completely destroy you. Even if you are the sister of a Satan."

"If you already know that much, then you must know that I'll never side with a Fallen Angel. In the name of the House of Gremory, I would never humiliate us by stooping so low." Good thing no one saw him as a Fallen then. That would get awkward after her statement.

Xenovia grinned at her. "Good to hear that. That's just what our headquarters wanted to hear. They were sure the sister of a Satan wouldn't be so foolish."

"Just so you know, I'm not siding with you or your God either."

"Of course. We simply would like you to pledge an non-intervention in this matter." Well, there was a loophole. As Ben wasn't a Devil and therefore not a real member of Rias' Peerage, he could go and intervene in he had to. Neither side was going to kill people while he could stop them.

"Understood." Rias replied. Xenovia and Irina stood up.

"Good. Then we'll take our leave. We can't befriend Devils after all." They started leaving, but Xenovia stopped and stared at Asia. "I was wondering this after leaving the Hyoudo residence last night. You're Asia Argento, aren't you?" Asia didn't say anything. She just nodded. Xenovia frowned. "I never thought I'd find a witch here."

"Huh? Oh! You're that nun with the healing powers." Irina said excitedly. "I heard you were exiled because your power could heal Fallen Angels and Devils too. But I never knew you'd become a Devil." Ben and Issei watched as Asia started trembling. Them mentioning it must've brought back painful memories.

"To think that a saint would fall so low as to become a Devil." Xenovia said with contempt. "Well, no one's perfect I suppose."

"Hey. Shut up." Ben said angrily. No one was insulting his friends but him. Xenovia turned her attentions to him.

"And you. You're not a Devil. You must be the Shapeshifter that won against Riser Phenex." Wow. Even the Church heard about that? How did they know? "What I can't understand is why you'd use your powers to help Devils. You could do so much more with the Church."

"Oh sure. And I bet the Church is just dying to know if they could replicate my powers. Thanks, but no thanks."

"So, you both don't believe in our God?"

"Um…I still believe." Asia whispered.

"I've seen god-like beings. I've thought against one. Hell, I've met an entire race of them." Best not to mention Alien X. That last thing he needed was the Church abducting him to turn Alien X into a weapon. "So no. I don't believe in your God."

"I see." Xenovia ignored Ben. She probably tuned out anything that didn't agree with her worldview. "Then Asia Argento, allow us to kill you now."

"What?!" Ben and Issei shouted at once.

"Whatever sins you have committed, God will surely forgive you for them. I will punish you in the name of God."

"Fuck that." Ben growled. Actually growled. Part of his aliens was bleeding through. "Asia. If I were you, I wouldn't want to worship some guy that needs me to die just because I wanted friends. I mean, who the hell do you people think you are?"

"Yeah." Issei stepped forward, placing himself in front of Asia. "She never wanted to be a saint. She just wanted to have friends. You're the ones that forced her to be one, and then you threw her out when it turned out that her powers weren't just for you lot. It didn't matter to you that she was the sweetest, kindest girl around. No, the fact that she could heal anybody was enough reason to try and kill her."

"A Saint needs only the love and respect of God. Those seeking more love and friendship are not worthy of sainthood."

"Screw faith. And screw God. If none of you could see the real Asia, then you sure as hell didn't deserve her."

Xenovia looked at them through suspicious eyes. "What exactly are you people to Asia?"

"We're her friends." Ben replied. "Her family. Her allies. Anyone who thinks they can always go it alone are idiots. I could never have beaten some of my strongest enemies without my friends. So if you try to do anything to her, we'll take you and your entire Church down. Hard."

"If you want to challenge the Church so badly, then fine. We'll fight right now. That is, if you think you're strong enough."

Ben gave her a toothy grin. "Oh, you bet we are. We'll mop the floor with you two."

(**/*\**)

They were now standing outside the Clubhouse, on a nearby open field. Ben and Issei stood side by side, while Xenovia and Irina stood opposite them. The two Church members threw their long cloaks aside to finally reveal their outfits. They weren't exactly very holy-looking. They were dressed completely in leather, with long leather boots and gloves. Their bodies were covered by tight-fitting leather swimsuits that left a gap of skin just above the leg where the boots stopped. Belts circled round under the groin, while a second belt rested under their breasts. Honestly, Ben shouldn't be surprised as the sex appeal. It wasn't like much else was modest.

"Is this really ok?" He heard Akeno ask. "To be fighting the Church on our own accord?"

"Relax, Akeno." Rias replied. "This is just a simple sparring match. And besides, Bri's not actually a part of our group. If push comes to shove, then this is a normal human having a beef with the Church, and my pawn stepped in to help a friend." Good. Rias saw the same logic he did. He wanted to make them apologise for how they treated Asia, but he didn't want to get the others in trouble.

"If any of our higher-ups knew about this, we'd be in big trouble." Irina said as she pulled at her armband. It unravelled and straightened until it had turned into an ornate katana. It was mostly steel, but with a golden glow on the edge and a gold guard above the handle.

"We'll do our best not to kill you." Xenovia finished as the wrapping faded away from her sword. It was as big as it looked, with what appeared to be axe-heads for the guard, while the blade itself had two extra edges extending out past the head.

Ben smiled at her. "Actually, I think that's my line." Issei summoned his Gear, while Ben readied his Omnitrix.

Whatever happened, they would win. They had to.

Well, looks like I did have one big change. Kiba is still resting off that injury he got from Freed, so now I can have Ben take part in the fight. Not much else to add to this.

See you next chapter.